The current practice is to assemble panels by means of fasteners such as rivets, screws, nuts and bolts etc. This traditional assembly method by fasteners has a tendency to increase the total mass of the assembly. Moreover, installing these fasteners increases the assembly time required. In the case of composite materials, the use of these fasteners eliminates for the most part the advantages of the composite construction. Actually, in addition to the increased weight due to the fasteners, inasmuch as they are generally made of metal, the composite panels become susceptible of corrosion and fatigue just like metallic panels.
Panels can also be assembled by welding, e.g. laser welding. But this assembly method is only applicable to metallic panels.